M. Night Shyamalan and Bruce Willis Re-Team for “Labor of Love”

It looks like M. Night Shyamalan is returning to his roots, a move that might be the most logical route to take after a string flops and letdowns.

Deadline learned today that Shyamalan is partnering up with Bruce Willis again to develop one of the first scripts he sold. The project is called “Labor of Love” and Bruce Willis will play a quiet bookstore owner who agonizes over the fact that he never properly told his wife how much he loved her before she died. So, in a grand gesture of affection, the man decides to walk across the country from Philadelphia to Pacifica, California. A journey that’ll take him to a place she loved.

That’s it. This isn’t a supernatural ordeal or a sci-fi extravaganza. I don’t think there’s going to be some crazy twist where Bruce gets to Pacifica and he realizes he is in Heaven. It’s a straightforward character study with romantic elements.

Symbolically, this an interesting move for Shyamalan. He’s teaming up with an actor who helped to create, arguably, his best films. An actor who worked with him when his career busted wide open. And they’re teaming up on a script from the early days of his Hollywood life. Add to that the film’s premise and it all sounds like Shyamalan is on a journey to the past to reconnect with his love of cinema.

Or he just dusted off an old script and wanted to do something simple. I don’t want to read too much into the man’s career, but the whole scenario is ripe for metaphors and symbolism.